NYPD Cognyte Falconet — Mamdani-Aligned Backlash Forces NYPD to Withdraw $750K No-Bid Phone-Tracking Deal

Hoodline, Ynet News and Israel National News reported Oct 29 that the NYPD withdrew a planned $750,000 no-bid contract with Israeli surveillance firm Cognyte for its Falconet cellular-identity tracking platform after pressure from privacy groups and Mamdani-aligned Councilmembers. The city reopened the solicitation to competitive bidding rather than scrapping it outright. STOP (Surveillance Technology Oversight Project), the NYCLU and Legal Aid called the move a cosmetic re-wrap of the same procurement and asked City Hall to invoke POST Act review before any contract award. NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Operations Kaz Daughtry framed the withdrawal as procurement-rule compliance; privacy advocates and Mamdani allies framed it as a win forced by scrutiny. First substantive City Hall vs NYPD surveillance-oversight test of the Mamdani administration.